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Backup Generators

spaniel said:
If you have access to natural gas and the budget, that's the best way to go in most circumstances. I guess is the NG system goes down you're screwed.

I don't have NG so I have gasoline generators. I have a 3K unit to back up the house, clearly I have to be selective what I run and whole house A/C won't happen.

I have two hand portable Honda units for my camper which hook together to produce 4K and run the whole camper, including A/C. If the power went out and it was really hot, I'm sure my wife would move into the camper for the A/C while I maintained the freezers etc in the house with the 3K unit.

Whatever you do, invest in quality. All mine are Honda. I know people who have bought cheap generators and when the time comes they need them they won't start or break down.
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yeah I do have NG-- and youre right that system could be interupted. its alot rarer in my experience. but it does happen. thats interesting about youre gas models. I do have an old Dayton model- I think 4500W-- needs a little work and i dont think id rely onmit. i would prob get the hondas if i get portable models. Thanks
 
338 dude said:
Like you I only have a portable gas powered but it is 8500 watts it will run everything in my entire house except for the AC so if it’s hot out I have to turn most things off and cool the house down then turn off the AC and have lights TV etc. luckily I don’t lose power all that often
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8500 is pretty big for a portable - really that would be enough for my house-- ill have to compare prices. One nice thing at my house I have a disconnect right after the meter outside so it will be easy to wire whatever i do. Thanks
 
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hoz53 said:
8500 is pretty big for a portable - really that would be enough for my house-- ill have to compare prices. One nice thing at my house I have a disconnect right after the meter outside so it will be easy to wire whatever i do. Thanks
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Mine sits in my shed/workshop probably 75 feet from the house and it Plugs into the receptacle that runs my welder that way it is behind my shop and I don’t have to listen to it runCorrection it is a 5500 W
 
Peterson1 said:
Koler
Whole house
Runs on natural gas
Get maintenance contract
They service once/year
CLP
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Another Kohler-- sounds good and ill look at the maintenance contract cause one thing i was wondering is how long they will last after spending that much. thanks
 
It’s funny reading this thread about generators I just ran it for three hours a couple days ago power went out I think someone crashed into a power pole
 
whatsupdoc said:
If you have a natural gas unit is one thing but if you are thinking of a gasoline powered generator just remember to get a fuel efficient unit. Many times during a major event gasoline may be not so readily available. Buying a large gasoline generator that drinks 20 gallons of fuel a day will become a problem if you need it for a few weeks.

During hurricane sandy many found this out the hard way.
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thats interesting and i was wondering how much gas i would use with one. Also i dont really want to store alot of gas in my garage. been thinking about a small shed "out back" Thanks
 
The wind blew 40 mph out of the East the other day and I’m shocked I didn’t have to bust out the generator. My trees aren’t used to that type of wind.
 
Clous said:
The wind blew 40 mph out of the East the other day and I’m shocked I didn’t have to bust out the generator. My trees aren’t used to that type of wind.
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yeah know wat you mean-- not a tornado here but we had alot of downed trees.
 
I have a whole house Kohler, with automatic transfer switch and runs off the house propane. It came with the house so I don't know exactly how much it cost the original owner but I'll see if I can dig out the paper work.

We were working outside a week ago and it came on. It was Saturday but the test day is Friday.. hmm.. check the power company website... yep. We were in a reported outage. Only lasted a few hours but it was nice not having to worry about it or to drag out a portable and get it fired up just in time for the power to come back on.
 
HonkinDonky said:
One thing that hasn't been mentioned yet, is don't buy a gen that is too large. You want to be running it at least 50% load, 70% is better. It is bad for the gen, and if it's a tier 4 diesel, it's very bad for the emissions systems to run at light load. I am a service manager for a very large company that services, among other things, generators and too light of a load causes me more service calls than any thing else on generators. By a huge margin....
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thats some great info. I would not have probably considered that. Thing for me is the general stuff in the house has a relatively small load- Lights- refrig-tv- computer. until the AC, dryer, stove, microwave kicks on. those are about the highest loads in here. NG on wat heater. Anyway you know the drill- load in whole house could go from 10A to 50A in a few seconds. coarse i could get by fine not using those higher Amp things. And frankly without those loads i could get by with a 2000W unit easy. Ill make a load list and think on this Thanks
 
Jdne5b said:
I have a whole house Kohler, with automatic transfer switch and runs off the house propane. It came with the house so I don't know exactly how much it cost the original owner but I'll see if I can dig out the paper work.

We were working outside a week ago and it came on. It was Saturday but the test day is Friday.. hmm.. check the power company website... yep. We were in a reported outage. Only lasted a few hours but it was nice not having to worry about it or to drag out a portable and get it fired up just in time for the power to come back on.
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that would be one great thing about a whole house unit for sure and one ill consider. Thanks
 
New Gun said:
The 20KW units (Whole House) can be Pricey to install you get an automatic transfer switch "Power goes out unit comes on" around $20000.00 for 200 amp Service. Depends on what you want to protect and for how long. It can get expensive real quick.
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Man, around here they are around $5000 and cheaper with military discount from lowes. Actually have a generac 20kw sitting in my garage for my dads house. Gonna install it as soon as i get some time off so thats as current of a price as you can get
 
338 dude said:
It’s funny reading this thread about generators I just ran it for three hours a couple days ago power went out I think someone crashed into a power pole
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i think 5500 would be enough at this house. ive gotta make my load list to find out. I have one of those clampon ammeters so i can check everything and get the true draw. Mite be some surprises. once inawhile we get someone crashing into a pole and have a power autage because of it. Thanks
 
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